Barry Wylde has very strong ties to Raglan.
His father came out from England as a farm cadet at 18 years of age.
He married one of the Benseman girls ( a cousin to Raglan’s original Stan Benseman) and eventually set up share milking on a farm near the top of the Opotoru estuary. Barry was christened at St. Peters and the family remained in Raglan till he was 4 years old. Since the age of 7 he has lived in Hamilton.
As an artist he is mainly self taught but has Southwell School to thank for recognizing his artistic bent and sending him and one other pupil (also named Barry) to Ida Carey for art lessons. He took art as a subject at Hamilton High School with Violet Jolly, another of Hamilton’s revered art teachers.
Much later in life he learned skills in Pastel techniques form Lynne Sinclair Taylor.
An interest in photography began with his first camera at the age of 14.
He took it up more seriously in the early 50s when he joined the Waikato Photographic Society and also became a foundation member of the Photographic Society of N.Z. and quickly bcame one of the panel of judges. He has received awards in photography. His biggest thrill, he says, was gaining a 3rd placing in the worldwide Nikon Photo contest.
His other hobbies keep him busy as well. He plays violin, viola and cello plus an inherited musical saw. At various times he has led the viola and cello sections of the Waikato Symphony Orchestra. It has already been suggested, jokingly, that he use the saw as the bow for the other three instruments.
His artwork has involved various mediums. Pastel, charcoal, watercolour etc and as a result he is running out of wallspace at home. Apart form the art, music and photography he also enjoys motorcycling, has a large collection of cameras and is still being trained by a miniature Schnauger called Greta.
Barry and his wife Beryl own a holiday home in west Raglan. From the deck they have watched the windfarm grow from start to finish. One day he came up with an idea for a cartoon and did a rough sketch and caption.
This set the ball rolling and he now has over 80 such ideas roughed out. So far he has finalized 11 of them to printing standard and has had eight of them made into postcards. The cartoons depict life on the windfarm as it might have been during and after its construction which is why most of them feature a couple of hard hated workers.
Although these are not the first cartoons Barry has ever done, the enjoyment he derives from doing them has ensured that their production will be ongoing.
And in case anyone is wondering, Meridian has given them the O.K.
Barrys cards can be found at the Information Centre on Wainui Rd.
Barry Wylde Ph 07 8559448 Hamilton. 027 6020340 when in Raglan. Email: wyldeduo@clear.net.nz
